♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... the freeman foundation. the judy and peter blum kovler foundation upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. narrator: and now bbc news.

i'm sumi somaskanda in washington and this is bbc world news america. president trump touts recent boat strikes in the caribbean as successful, and says the us will start doing those strikes on land as well. russian president vladimir putin warns european powers that if they start a war with russia, moscow is ready to fight. president trump pardons juan orlando hernandez the former honduran president convicted of drug crimes. convicted of drug crimes. a very warm welcome to world news america. good to have you with us tonight. president trump says a us military operation by land in latin america to combat drug trafficking could begin very soon. speaking in a cabinet meeting, the president warned any country trafficking

drugs into the us could be subject to attack. he was answering a question about threats of us military action in venezuela, but suggested colombia could also be targeted. the move would mark a major escalation of the current us military posture in the caribbean. so far, the us has restricted its operations to the ocean, carrying out deadly strikes on boats it claims are smuggling drugs. the pentagon also deployed the world's most advanced aircraft carrier to the caribbean as part of what washington calls an anti-narcotics operation. but the venezuelan president accuses the trump administration of seeking regime change by force in his country. on tuesday, president trump confirmed he pressured nicolas maduro over the phone to resign. here's some of what the us president said at tuesday's cabinet meeting. these people have killed over 200,000 people, actually killed over 200,000 people last year. and those numbers are down. those numbers are down. way down. and they're down because we're doing these strikes and we're going to start doing

those strikes on land too. you know, the land is much easier. it's much easier. and we know the routes they take. we know everything about them. we know where they live. we know where the bad ones live. and we're going to start that very soon too. now in that same cabinet meeting, us defense secretary pete hegseth defended a controversial follow up strike on a suspected drug trafficking boat. the september incident has drawn scrutiny after the washington post reported two survivors still clinging to the targeted vessel were killed in a second strike. several us lawmakers say that could constitute a war crime if found to be true. on tuesday, hegseth said he did not personally see survivors aboard the boat but backed the navy. admiral he claims ordered it. he sunk the boat. sunk the boat and eliminated the threat. and he was the right call. we have his back. and the american people are safer because narco terrorists know you can't bring drugs through the water and eventually on land if

necessary, to the american people, we will eliminate that threat and we're proud to do it. so you didn't see any survivors? to be clear, after that first strike you? i did not personally see survivors, but i stand because the thing was on fire. it was exploded. and fire. smoke. you can't see anything. you got digital. this is called the fog of war. let's speak about the latest now with democratic congressman joaquin castro from texas who's joining us. congressman, very good to have you with us on the programme. i want to start with that defence from the defence secretary, pete hegseth, saying he didn't see the two survivors personally and said this is all part of the fog of war. what do you make of that argument? i think the way that we can figure out exactly what happened is to have the secretary of defence, admiral bradley, and everybody else who was involved in the decision come testify in front of the senate and the house about exactly what happened. but it seems what started is a kind of blame game or finger pointing,

at least by secretary hegseth towards admiral bradley and perhaps others. and it suggests that there is a real concern that there may have been a war crime committed. we should say that admiral bradley is expected to hold a classified briefing for some lawmakers in the house armed services committee. we understand on thursday. but have you and the intelligence committee where you serve, seen information more broadly proving that the victims on these boats are trafficking drugs that these boats are carrying drugs? unfortunately, i even as a member of the intelligence committee, have not gotten the full story. this administration, the trump administration, has been probably the most secretive in a generation in american history in terms of what it shares with congress. so it's been a very secretive administration that's unwilling to share information even with a republican congress. and that needs to change as well. i want to ask you about what we heard from speaker johnson. he talked about president barack obama's

administration. he said president obama, he had, i think, 550 drone strikes on people who were targeted as enemies of the country, and nobody ever questioned it. we know that's true. there were hearings in congress, congressman, but what do you make of that argument from the speaker? well, that's right, there were hearings. there was a lot of debate and a lot of discussion, both in public and in private, about exactly how those things went down. and so i don't think that these two situations are comparable. again, that was a very they've been very secretive and refused to share information even with members of congress in the trump administration. what do you make of what the president said specifically on his strategy in latin america, saying any country that is selling cocaine to the us is subject to attack? he mentioned colombia in referencing this. do you think that the president is indeed planning strikes on land? and what would congress would do about that? i hope that he's not planning to

invade venezuela. the american people are not asking for a war or for an invasion or for regime change in venezuela. so i hope that better angels will prevail. and he won't do that, unfortunately, president trump has taken a very aggressive approach to latin america during his second term. you see him getting into fights with the leaders in mexico and colombia, obviously venezuela, but also trying to tip elections in argentina very recently in honduras. and so he is interfering with the affairs of latin american countries, unlike we've seen in generations from a united states president. but congressman, the argument from the trump administration in part has been the previous strategies of previous administrations to interdict boats and arrest drug traffickers has not worked, has not stopped the flow of cocaine, for into the us.. there were years actually where we were very effective working

with colombia, for example, in stopping a lot of those shipments. and so as you look at the budgets for how much money is spent on interdiction, what was really shocking to me is the small amount of money that is spent on actually stopping these things from coming. and i'm not talking about blowing up boats. i'm talking about actually co-operating with the nations of latin america to stop these drug shipments. we could actually spend a lot more money and i would support more funding to work with latin american countries to stop the drug shipments. but in these strikes, they've not listed who exactly these people were that were killed, have not provided any evidence that these specific individuals were narco terrorists or drug dealers and again, have been very secretive. and i think that's why you see, it's clear that the american people are not supportive of these strikes and are certainly not supportive of regime change in venezuela. congressman will leave the conversation there for today.

but thank you, as always for joining us on bbc news. good to be with you. a high stakes meeting between russian president vladimir putin and two top us envoys wrapped up in moscow after talks lasting more than five hours. putin's envoy called the negotiations on ending the war productive, but added there's more work to be done. yuri ushakov said no compromise has yet been reached on the issue of territory. the main sticking point us special envoy steve witkoff and president trump's son in law jared kushner discussed the latest draft of a peace plan put forward by the us ukraine was not represented at these latest talks, but held their own direct meetings with us officials over the weekend. european leaders had condemned certain parts of the original us backed peace plan, claiming much of it aligns with russia's demands. that original proposal was then amended to reflect ukraine's lines, but on tuesday, putin said the european counterproposal was unacceptable and warned european countries against starting a war with russia while negotiations move

forward, russian forces are rapidly advancing on the front lines. they captured two settlements in zaporizhzhia. a day after taking control of pokrovsk, which was a key logistical base for ukraine's military. that's according to russia's defence ministry. ukraine has not yet confirmed those reports from the battlefield. here's what president putin said earlier. we are not planning to go to war with europe. i have already said that a hundred times. but if europe all of a sudden wants to fight against us and starts it, we are ready right now. ukrainian president zelensky, meanwhile, visited ireland on tuesday, continuing his visit with european leaders. ukraine says it wants an end to the war, not just a pause in fighting. president zelensky is awaiting feedback from the us on how those talks in moscow went. speaking to the irish parliament earlier, he stressed the importance of europe's support. one strong country can start a war, another strong country can help to stop the

war. but to restore justice and defend what's right, we need a community, a world made up of many different nations. it is the community of nations that decides, united by shared sentiments, shared aspirations, a shared desire for justice. let's speak about the latest now with the executive director of the mccain institute, evelyn farkas. she previously served as deputy assistant us secretary of defence for ukraine and russia from 2012 to 2015. evelyn, always very good to see you. thanks for joining us today. i want to start with president putin's comments about europe saying if europe wants a war, russia will be ready. do you see that as a negotiating tactic, a direct threat? what do you make of that comment? i mean, sue me first. thanks for having me back on. it's a typical putin bluster, and what he's leaving

out is the fact that he has been for over a year conducting small-scale attacks all over europe. the europeans have called them sabotage operations, but the most recent ones in poland, i mean, they there were two explosive devices on polish railways, on the railroad tracks that are used for providing munitions and support to ukraine, but also for transporting civilians. so putin himself is being very provocative and the europeans are only responding by trying to build up deterrence. if we talk about the negotiations themselves, the special envoy, steve witkoff and jared kushner, we understand, held a meeting five hours long with president putin today and putin's envoy saying these were productive talks, but also that no agreement has been reached on territory. what do you make of that? because this has been the sticking point and remains to be. well, so sue me. it's interesting that the russians are saying the territory is the sticking point. i think if you ask the

ukrainians they would say actually it's the security guarantees that are the real sticking point because ultimately the ukrainians my guess is and i don't want to speak for them, but they would probably be able to make a compromise recognising that russia is de facto the reality that russia is controlling the territory, crimea and then parts of donetsk and luhansk in the rest of eastern ukraine, and that that reality ukraine might be able to live with and allow russia to continue to govern in exchange for security guarantees. but the thing that the ukrainians really want and need are security guarantees. and this is where russia has basically said a big no. so the gap really is there. and the fact that they've met for five hours, you know, there it's probably shorter because they're probably having interpretation. but you know, you can't i mean you could talk about territory all you want, but you're leaving off the table. i think the biggest

sticking point. evelyn, i saw that you wrote the first step to pieces to convince the kremlin it can't win. and yet president putin seems to think that he is winning both on the battlefield and from what we see these negotiations. so how do you do that? how do you turn those tables? yeah, i mean, assuming he's trying to project this project that he's winning these incremental gains on the battlefield, you know, one town here and one town there and a few kilometres here and there, we know that that can change in a few weeks. in another month, the ukrainians can seize the initiative. perhaps the russians don't have that much of an advantage on the ground unless putin can mobilise more men. and i doubt that he can without running into some political difficulty. he's not at a real huge advantage at the moment on the ground where the ukrainians and where we can press our advantage. and that's what i meant in the thing that i posted on social media is on the economic front because the russians are suffering economically. if the ukrainians

can use missiles that we provide them to attack the oil depots in the rear inside of russia and take them out if they can attack the drone facilities that are basically attacking innocent civilians in ukraine, that would be helpful. and obviously we can sanction all the countries that are buying russia's oil to put further pressure on the russian financial system because ultimately the russians need to be convinced that they aren't winning and that they have to compromise. they're not compromising as far as i can see so far. evelyn, just really quickly we have about 40s. it doesn't seem that the trump administration is willing to pull those levers. not yet, but my guess is they will recognise at some point that they have to. and the senate itself is able to proceed without a presidential nod of approval. they have over 80 senators, i believe, 82, in favour of the sanctions legislation on the house side. they have mechanisms that they can use to

also pass that legislation. and i doubt that president trump would veto it. evelyn farkas, always great to get your analysis. thank you so much for joining us. as we mentioned, a one of russia's demands to end the war is for ukraine to give up the regions of luhansk and donetsk, known as the donbas. our defence correspondent jonathan beale, who is in eastern ukraine, has been gauging the reaction of soldiers and civilians there to the negotiations. we're heading east where russia is still advancing. towards donetsk, the region which may decide whether these us led peace talks fail or succeed. the trains no longer run there. as the fighting gets closer. this is now the end of the line. now the end of the line. it's where they wait to get their train out of danger for andriy

and polina, it's also the end of their own brief encounter. when will you see each other again? when we don't know. you don't know? i don't know. she's returning home to relative safety. andre is going back to the front line. peace talks and. he doesn't see an end to the war in sight. no. he describes the peace talks as chatter. just chatter. will it happen, he asks. most likely not. president putin still wants all of the donbas. on their way out, some soldiers on leave will have a brief respite from the fighting. tired and exhausted. but dennis says after so much sacrifice, they're still not ready to give up. no one's giving it up.

nobody will give putin donbas. no way. it's our land. but there's been a steady stream of desertions. sergey, not his real name, is now in hiding. he's just one of hundreds of thousands of cases reported for desertion. an american flag. one of his few possessions. his frustrations are directed at his own side, not the us. we had no morale or fighting spirit. even if we had enough weapons, there weren't enough people to operate them. there was simply no one to fight. i joined to serve, not to run. so do you think ukraine can win this war? if you think logically, no. a country of 140 million against us with 32 million. it doesn't add up. civilians are also leaving the east, their home in droves. but

this one reception centre, they're processing 200 people a day, giving them basic supplies and money. they're escaping. intensifying russian attacks. so. for vera, life had become unbearable. they bombed almost every day. every single day. civilian areas, schools, houses were destroyed so badly that they can't be rebuilt. oleksander says it's too dangerous to stay. he thinks it's time to make a deal. with russia's demands are probably unacceptable for us. but i don't know, maybe personally i would already agree to those terms. ina doesn't expect to return either. all she wants is peace. she says she fled with her five children. they're already looking to rebuild

their lives elsewhere. jonathan beale, bbc news eastern ukraine. the former president of honduras, juan orlando hernandez, has been released from a high security us prison after receiving a pardon from president trump. hernandez was extradited to the us in 2022 to stand trial on charges of running a violent drug trafficking conspiracy. the former president was found guilty of conspiring to import cocaine to the us and of possessing machine guns. he was sentenced to 45 years in prison and was ordered to pay an $8 million fine. president trump said in a post on truth social that hernandez had been treated very harshly and unfairly. meanwhile, votes are still being counted in honduras election, which has resulted in a technical tie. the former mayor. mayor excuse me nasry asfura with the right wing national party is leading by a very slim margin. president trump has endorsed mr asfura for the presidency and threatened to cut financial aid to honduras if he does not win.

he is in a virtual tie with tv host salvador nasralla from the centrist liberal party. let's bring in will grant, our central america correspondent who is following the latest for us. will. great to see you. i want to start with that pardon of former honduran president hernandez. how is that being received in the region? to be honest, me with a real. mixture of frustration, outright anger and resignation. obviously for hondurans, when juan orlando hernandez was sent to prison for 45 years on drug trafficking charges. you've got to remember that these things just don't happen in central america, least of all honduras, a country with huge issues with impunity where everything from white collar crime to common attacks on the streets go completely unpunished. so to see the former president in jail guilty for 45 years on these charges was extraordinary for hondurans. and now it's

come undone. but of course, one person who is celebrating today is his family, his wife in particular, who i sat down with anna. maria, ana garcia carias, the former first lady. she obviously thanked president trump and she said that whether or not mr hernandez returns to honduras really depends on whether or not the government that's going to come in can give him proper security guarantees. yeah, and that was my next question. the current election vote counting going on. what can you tell us about where things stand? well, coming in and out behind me in this building are a lot of election observers who have been giving briefings and been talking to members of the press, both national and international. specifically, they're saying, look, the process itself we're content was clean. would we have all liked a very clear winner? yes. they say, you know, the hondurans would like space daylight between these two

candidates that you mentioned in your introduction. the truth of the matter is it's just not unfolding that way. there is barely a hair's breadth between these two men, and the fear is that if it doesn't lead to post-electoral violence, which certainly people hope it won't do, it will very potentially lead to legal challenges and recounts, at least in parts of the country. well, grant, thank you so much for that reporting. great to speak with you. rescuers in indonesia and sri lanka are rushing to aid thousands of people stranded after catastrophic floods and landslides. officials there say they fear hundreds of people could be stuck under piles of mud. some areas are still submerged in water. more than 1300 people have been killed in devastating natural disasters that spread across four countries in south east asia. it was caused by two tropical cyclones that passed through the region last week as part of the monsoon season. scientists say climate change is making weather conditions more extreme every year. the united nations says it is working on providing

emergency humanitarian aid as the region struggles with overwhelming displacement. it also warned of higher risk for disease outbreak due to damaged water systems from flooding. our reporter nicky widadio has this update from west sumatra in indonesia. behind me is lake singkarak in west sumatra and this area where i am standing now used to be rice fields and the locals home. but after flash floods that happened last week, everything has flattened and large logs like this have appeared carried down by floodwaters. locals say they've never seen logs this size and up here before. similar sightings have also been reported in at least five locations across age uk, north sumatra and west sumatra. this has sparked public discourse about where these logs came from. some suspects they're linked to illegal logging. many see this phenomenon as evidence of environmental damage that has worsened the impact of floods and landslides. the ministry of forestry says the

logs could have come from various sources, whether it's from fallen trees, natural debris or illegal logging. meanwhile, the national police says that they will investigate these findings to find out where these large logs came from. now the suspect in last week's shooting of two national guard members in washington, dc, made his first court appearance on tuesday. 29-year-old rahmanullah lakanal appeared virtually from a washington, dc, hospital where he's recovering from gunshot wounds. he's facing charges of murder and assault with intent to kill and entered a plea of not guilty. a judge ordered lakanal, an afghan national who was living in washington state, to be held without bond, citing the sheer terror of the shootings just blocks from the white house. lakanal is charged with shooting 20-year-old army specialist sarah beckstrom and 24-year-old air force staff sergeant andrew wolf, both members of the west virginia national guard. beckstrom was killed while wolf remains in

critical condition. pope leo zeekr has returned to the vatican following a six day trip to turkey and lebanon. more than 150,000 people gathered on the seafront in beirut for mass on his last day. during the service on tuesday, he called on middle eastern countries to resolve years of conflict. pope leo said the region as a whole needed to change course from the horror of war. amid political tensions and economic strain, this marked the first overseas trip for pope leo since he was appointed to lead the catholic church. his next voyage will be to africa in the next year. in 2026. that is our programme today. don't forget you can always get more on the day's news on our website, bbc news you can see there we have the latest updates on negotiations to end the war in ukraine and to see what we're working on at any time. make sure to check us out on your favourite social media site as well. for all of us here in washington, thank you for watching world news america and stay with bbc news.

announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪ jean: thousands of people have come here to the center of seoul this evening. they have come to celebrate the newly elected president, lee jae myung. john: he's been firing rubber bullets at the direction of the crowd, and it shows he just how volatile the situation is. yogita: we're seeing scenes of destruction like this one across mandalay, and the reality on the ground is there just aren't enough pairs of hands. james: given the scale of the attacks we've seen over the past 48 hours, it doesn't feel like we're in ceasefire territory. announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the news hour tonight. more details emerge about the deadly u.s. strikes on alleged drug boats off the venezuelan coast as tensions rise across the region. an exclusive interview with an american mohammad ibrahim and his father after the teen spent nine months in an israeli jail. he even asked us, am i dreaming? am i really out? we told him,,